Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Charmin has come to the rescue of Taylor firefighters by donating a year’s supply of toilet paper.

That’s 960 rolls of the small white squares for 20 firefighters.

The donation, announced today, is part of the Charmin Relief Project for firefighters and is a nationwide effort to give rolls of the bathroom necessity to one firehouse in every state.

That’s nearly 50,000 rolls to firehouses in all 50 states.

The Charmin Relief website says it all about the effort: “We’re helping the butts of those who protect our butts.”

Charmin asked consumers to share stories of firehouses in their communities that were experiencing sub-par bathroom conditions and in need of relief, according to a release.

It received more than 1,000 comments about firehouses in need through social media, including 13 comments relating to firehouses in Michigan on its Facebook page, according to Jay Gooch, communications manager for Procter & Gamble.

Charmin picked one firehouse in each state that could use the extra help because of insufficient funds or other constraints. Firehouses serve as a second home to firefighters, who often work 24-hour shifts.

Taylor Fire Lt. Al Young said he was flipping through Facebook last month when he saw something about the project and the Charmin bear in a firefighter’s outfit. That’s when he said, “Hey, why not? Why not us?”

He commented via Facebook that the city has 52 firefighters and is using a federal grant to keep 32 of them employed.

“We have run through our supply fund for cleaning and bathroom supplies,” Young told Charmin. “What we have left in supply could be best described as 100-grit sandpaper.”

The new budget year doesn’t start until July and, Young noted, the firefighters were forced to supply their own toiletries and cleansing supplies at each station.

A couple of weeks later, Young said he received a Facebook message from Charmin asking for a fire station address. He didn’t hear anything else until he received a text from the firefighters union president, letting him know toilet paper had arrived today.

The toilet paper made it to the fire station, where Young said it will “keep the firemens’ bottoms soft.”

Young didn’t think Charmin would select his department when on a whim he made the Facebook comment.

“I’m glad that they did,” he said. “We are more than appreciative.”

In 2012, Charmin donated more than 70,500 rolls of toilet paper to Detroit firefighters after news reports that firefighters were buying toilet paper with their own money. In January 2014, it donated 10,000 rolls of toilet paper to Moonachie Fire Department in New Jersey, which was being rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy.

This is the first time the company has donated toilet paper to firehouses across the country at the same time.

Charmin also will select five firehouses across the U.S. to receive a bathroom mini-makeover “to transform homely to homey and pull in elements inspired from firefighters own homes,” according to the release.